Fear
by Aslan's Lamb
Summary: What is Edmund thinking, as Aslan and the White Witch speak alone?


It never really went away. The fear that he would end up in the clutches of the White Witch once more. He told himself that Peter wouldn't give him up without a fight, that Aslan had told him he would rule over Narnia. But the fear was still there. And so when the dwarf appeared and announced that Jadis wanted to meet with Aslan, somehow he knew instinctively that it had to do with him. When the words, "His blood is my property," came from the witch's red lips, he had almost been expecting them. When Peter raised his sword and said "Try and take him then!", he had been expecting that too. He was ready to turn to one of the Centaurs and ask if he could borrow a sword as well. He would fight for his life, if it came to that. It was the witch's next words, which really froze him in his place.

"Unless I have blood as the law demands, all of Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water!"

And there they were, sitting on the grass while Aslan and the Witch spoke alone. Edmund forced himself to think. Could the Witch's words be true? She had lied before, she could be lying now. But if it was a lie, why didn't Aslan say so? Was it possible, he did not know? Edmund discarded that thought. Aslan knew. Period. And if Aslan believed the witch, logically, what the Witch said must be true.

If he didn't die, everything else would. It wasn't fair. Why should the fate of this world, rest on him? He supposed, they all expected him to voluntarily walk into the witch's arms. For a single moment, Edmund entertained the thought that there was still a way out of this. He could take Peter and the girls, they could somehow make it to the Lantern Waste, into the wardrobe and out of Narnia. When Narnia perished, they would be safe and sound, back at the house of the professor. And he would spend the rest of his life knowing that an entire country, no, an entire world was destroyed because of him. No. It was the way the old Edmund would have acted. He was different now. He had caused this mess, he wasn't going to run away from it. Although, that's what he wanted most at the moment.

So it came down to this: Narnia or him. Edmund realized that this whole time, he had been pulling up blades of grass, and now there was a bare brown spot of earth in front of him and many little blades of grass in his lap. These blades of grass had just appeared yesterday, and now they were dead. Lovely. He was already destroying Narnia, just by sitting here. Edmund finally dared to look around. For all this to perish, because of him? It was unthinkable. There was only one thing to be done. He had to go with the Witch. But what about being king? The prophecy and Aslan's promise? Had they all meant nothing? He didn't know. Perhaps, he would be rescued once again. Or maybe something would kill the witch before she could kill him. A flying house or something of that sort. Whether the witch would be killed or not, whether he would be rescued or not, Edmund knew it didn't change what had to be done.

Aslan and the Witch walked out of the tent. There was victory in the Witch's eyes. Edmund took a shuddery breath and hoped that he'd be allowed to say goodbye to his family. He could almost feel the Witch's cold hand on the back of his neck. He turned to look at Aslan, desperate for the peace in Aslan's eyes, the peace that there was always so much of. Then Aslan spoke, "She has renounced her claim on the Son of Adam's blood."

Suddenly, Edmund found himself enveloped in Susan's and Peter's arms, crushed by Lucy's hug, happy, oh so happy, and safe. Safe.

"How will I know your promise will be kept?" the Witch asked.

Aslan turned to her and roared so loud that the Witch sat down in her chair, sharply. Edmund laughed with the others. He didn't understand which promise the Witch meant. He didn't understand, how Aslan had managed to save him. But maybe he didn't have to understand. He had seen the fear in the Witch's eyes. She feared Aslan. And with that realization, Edmund's own fear disappeared completely.


End file.
